1 month & im tight/aggressive but what now?

[rindhoops]

I have learnt Poker from scratch, been playing at partypoker every day and night for about a month, mostly freerolls and sng`s
I have read all the common advice and followed the advice of many by playing very tight and aggressive.
I have had a modicum of success, 32nd and 36th in big freerolls and a dozen wins & lot of placings in sng;s, but I`m still making a small loss. My questions are;

What do I do now? Ill never make money or win tournies just being mainly tight\agg, I do vary when required of course,
but I am stumped at what strategy I could go for now to improve my game, someone told me to try "slow-ball" whatever that is, anyone here explain please?

Also, I have learnt to turn off the chat option as sometimes I get a lot of stick, mainly when beating someone in what I usually feel is a good play, e.g had the Nuts so moved all in and they called etc. had some girl calling me all sorts just now when I beat her in a sng, i asked what the prob was and she said "your play is so shit, its annoying" so i said ill let u win if its that important to u, and promptly knocked her out
Thing is, in real life I`d have to get used to the odd insult so maybe I should leave chat on and ignore them?
But hey! I`m a sensitive guy ;-)


Also can anyone explain exactly (in beginners language please) what is meant by "stealing someones blind"
I have an idea but could someone tell me?

last question, I am diagnosed ADD (Attention Defecit Disorder) where the main problem is staying focused and concentrating doh! So im playing with a handicap, when I take the medication I usually go on tilt ;-) It`s not always a handicap though because sometimes I go into hyperfocus mode, where you get 1000% concentration to a standard that is scary, I usually win when that happens though, just wish I had some control over when it came on, this is why I won`t do too well playing tight in long tournies, if it gets boring waiting for good hands, ill get restless and go on tilt or mind will wander off to the land of magic pies etc.. Any other ADHD people on here? How do you handle it?

I have loads more questions but I`ll bore u later with them

 

[quads]

Stairway to success reaches the clouds. Keep climbing. No one can give advice on any single type of play. If there was a sure way to win the game couldn't exist. I would suggest reading some books.

 

[rindhoops]

Stairway to success reaches the clouds. Keep climbing. No one can give advice on any single type of play. If there was a sure way to win the game couldn't exist. I would suggest reading some books.

I have read a lot of free on-line stuff, a lot of the articles on this forum are super and have helped me greatly but most say the
the same thing, play tight\aggr when you are a beginner. Guess its off to the library then, or even spending money at Amazon! cheers.

 

[rindhoops]

I found the answer, Holdem Indicator,its profiling guided me to being a proper aggressive player (I thought I was aggr but was in fact passive)
I have just done an in-depth review and am going to post on this forum.

 

[HoldemChamp]

I guess you answered your own question. Proper tight agressive play will win in the long run. However, your last thread inferred that you weren't being tight but passive. That definitely will put a crimp in your money making.

 

[dj11]

Keep it cheap for another 50,000 hands.
Huge number you think? I actually wanted to say 100,000 hands.
You could read every book and article before you ever saw a dealt card. They would mean nothing without the tactile experience you will get after 50,000 hands.

Blinds are a function of position. When you are on the button, or just to the right, in the cut-off seat, you have an opportunity to bluff, or semi-bluff a big bet with the thought that since most hands dealt are garbage, you can represent a big hand and get the hands after that to lay down. Since those are the blinds, it got called 'stealing the blinds'. You do NOT want to do this every orbit (orbit is the button moving completely around the table), and it seldom works unless you are the first to act.

I highly recommend reading all the Articles (upper right on you screen), along with the glossary in the Guide section and others there.

Good post BTW...

 

[Shoestringx]

Hi rindhoops, I also have ADHD. I never got diagnosed with it until I was 19 years old. I have never taken any medication for it. It is my personal belief that if you take medication for ADHD that you will begin to become dependant on it. Honestly my feelings are that the only reasons most people end up on medication for ADHD are because parents and teaches are to lazy to deal with it properly and shoving pills down the childs throat is the easiest way to cope.

Ok I had my little rant.

Coping with it while playing poker is all case dependant. I myself am a really fidgety person. I constantly use my left hand (non mouse hand) to do something, whether it is shuffling chips or tearing paper into little balls and throwing it into the garbage or spining a pen around it seems to help me keep focus.

I also like to have music going in the background, and sometimes read a book while I play (or read various webpages in between decent hands).

Also if you are having trouble keeping your focus with slowly escalating blind levels, maybe try some turbo tournaments, I swear those are designed for people with ADHD

 

[jaymfc]

rindhoops, heres what i think , dont know what slow ball is ,but knowing when to slo play is important, rude people are part of poker so get used to that , you better know who you are and then their opinion wont mean so much , too senseative justs keeps hurting you . stealing blinds is making a large bet that gets no callers. and for that reason . as for add and adhd i think we all have some form of it ,plus half of us are smoked out or drunk. it would be tougher to become a pro but very possible still , just play at times you are feeling best. i agree with dj11 , the books dont mean nothing till after many thousands of hands , im about ready to go back and read mine again , with a much greater understanding i hope. i think i play tag and i want to learn more lag play to spice it up. gl. hope to see you around.

 

[rindhoops]

Yes being a beginner I didnt really understand the full nature of being aggressive I think I do now and my game has improved severalfold.

I guess you answered your own question. Proper tight agressive play will win in the long run. However, your last thread inferred that you weren't being tight but passive. That definitely will put a crimp in your money making.

 

[rindhoops]

H thanks for reply.
I`m under no illussions that I have a very long way to go just to be an above average player (even on party poker) but I am playing a lot of hands a week (2,500 roughly this week) prob too much my head is leaking

As for blind-stealing thanks I do get it now, but after experimenting I always seem to come unstuck trying to steal, guess that will come with experience too.

Reading articles: My eyes are bulging and head swimming from reading so many, again overdoing it, I`m probably trying too hard but I want to succeed so I`m giving it my all.
good luck

Keep it cheap for another 50,000 hands.
Huge number you think? I actually wanted to say 100,000 hands.
You could read every book and article before you ever saw a dealt card. They would mean nothing without the tactile experience you will get after 50,000 hands.

Blinds are a function of position. When you are on the button, or just to the right, in the cut-off seat, you have an opportunity to bluff, or semi-bluff a big bet with the thought that since most hands dealt are garbage, you can represent a big hand and get the hands after that to lay down. Since those are the blinds, it got called 'stealing the blinds'. You do NOT want to do this every orbit (orbit is the button moving completely around the table), and it seldom works unless you are the first to act.

I highly recommend reading all the Articles (upper right on you screen), along with the glossary in the Guide section and others there.

Good post BTW...

 

[rindhoops]

Hi m8
Meds have helped & hindered me in the past, its a big issue I guess to be discussed elsewhere as not many people would be interested in it

As for coping mechenisms, I chain-smoke and chain-coffee drink and any spare time between hands I`m taking player notes in my software (Holdem Indicator) or studying my opponents stats so all this keeps me focused now
no room for mind wandering, if it does I know I need a break.

Yeah turbos are cool


good luck
Rindhoops

Hi rindhoops, I also have ADHD. I never got diagnosed with it until I was 19 years old. I have never taken any medication for it. It is my personal belief that if you take medication for ADHD that you will begin to become dependant on it. Honestly my feelings are that the only reasons most people end up on medication for ADHD are because parents and teaches are to lazy to deal with it properly and shoving pills down the childs throat is the easiest way to cope.

Ok I had my little rant.

Coping with it while playing poker is all case dependant. I myself am a really fidgety person. I constantly use my left hand (non mouse hand) to do something, whether it is shuffling poker chips or tearing paper into little balls and throwing it into the garbage or spining a pen around it seems to help me keep focus.

I also like to have music going in the background, and sometimes read a book while I play (or read various webpages in between decent hands).

Also if you are having trouble keeping your focus with slowly escalating blind levels, maybe try some turbo tournaments, I swear those are designed for people with ADHD

 

[rindhoops]

thanks foe reply jaymfc

Rude players, son as they start any nonsense I have a piece of card I stick over the chat box on the screen othrewise I get distractted and it def sways my game, wether the comments are aimed at me or not.
I can`t turn chat off like I used to cos I`m using monitoring software.
Guess you wont be seeing me at a wsop table anytime soon

You are right though, now I am a better player and more confident it doesn`t bother me quite sa much as it used to, just distracting.

Take your and dj11s point about coming back to the books whith more experience each time you discover and understand more.

good luck
rindhoops

rindhoops, heres what i think , dont know what slow ball is ,but knowing when to slo play is important, rude people are part of poker so get used to that , you better know who you are and then their opinion wont mean so much , too senseative justs keeps hurting you . stealing blinds is making a large bet that gets no callers. and for that reason . as for add and adhd i think we all have some form of it ,plus half of us are smoked out or drunk. it would be tougher to become a pro but very possible still , just play at times you are feeling best. i agree with dj11 , the books dont mean nothing till after many thousands of hands , im about ready to go back and read mine again , with a much greater understanding i hope. i think i play tag and i want to learn more lag play to spice it up. gl. hope to see you around.

 

[reglardave]

I have learnt Poker from scratch, been playing at partypoker every day and night for about a month, mostly freerolls and sng`s
I have read all the common advice and followed the advice of many by playing very tight and aggressive.
I have had a modicum of success, 32nd and 36th in big freerolls and a dozen wins & lot of placings in sng;s, but I`m still making a small loss. My questions are;

What do I do now? Ill never make money or win tournies just being mainly tight\agg, I do vary when required of course,
but I am stumped at what strategy I could go for now to improve my game, someone told me to try "slow-ball" whatever that is, anyone here explain please?

Also, I have learnt to turn off the chat option as sometimes I get a lot of stick, mainly when beating someone in what I usually feel is a good play, e.g had the Nuts so moved all in and they called etc. had some girl calling me all sorts just now when I beat her in a sng, i asked what the prob was and she said "your play is so shit, its annoying" so i said ill let u win if its that important to u, and promptly knocked her out
Thing is, in real life I`d have to get used to the odd insult so maybe I should leave chat on and ignore them?
But hey! I`m a sensitive guy ;-)


Also can anyone explain exactly (in beginners language please) what is meant by "stealing someones blind"
I have an idea but could someone tell me?

last question, I am diagnosed ADD (Attention Defecit Disorder) where the main problem is staying focused and concentrating doh! So im playing with a handicap, when I take the medication I usually go on tilt ;-) It`s not always a handicap though because sometimes I go into hyperfocus mode, where you get 1000% concentration to a standard that is scary, I usually win when that happens though, just wish I had some control over when it came on, this is why I won`t do too well playing tight in long tournies, if it gets boring waiting for good hands, ill get restless and go on tilt or mind will wander off to the land of magic pies etc.. Any other ADHD people on here? How do you handle it?

I have loads more questions but I`ll bore u later with them

!. Why do you feel you can't win playing TAG style? Many people do.

2. By slowball, I presume you mean slowplaying strong hands,ie sets, straights, and such. It can be a profitable strategy wwhen used in moderarion, but can also be fraught w/ danger. The most common example is checking a set post flop and letting your opponents make a play at the pot, thereby increasing the pot size. The main drawback is letting free cards peel off to villains who may be on a straight or flush draw.

3.Stealing the blinds is a bluff/ semi bluff play usually attempted from late position, and simply consists of raising the pot w/ what may not be a strong hand, hoping to get the small and big blind to lay down what are likely to be weak hands. This is a strategy for later in tournaments, when blinds and antes make it worth the risk of taking down a hand without a showdown. There are numerous "steal" plays/strategies, and a single post couldn't begin to cover them.....this is just a primer "the 101 of stealing pots".

Hope some of this helps.

 

[rindhoops]

Hi reg
Well TAG works fine in the early to mid stages of trnys, what I meant tosay was I needed to learn how play slightly loose & agg for the final run in as you def got to loosen up to stand a reasonable chance on the final table
I have seen huge stack whittled away on FT lots and I feel u have 2 go uber aggr if you want to win. Using that stratagy I did then win 2 small (50 people) MTT in a row so it works for me, both times I was lowest stack and
looked beat at FT, first one I had 4k while SL hada 60k + and I trounced it


I recently found out the slow-ball reference is regarding a strategy used by daniel Negranu, it`s like a controlled maniac raising all the the time but min bets, I don`t get it but looking into it.

Yes I`m cool on blind stealing now thanks.


Good luck
Rindhoops

!. Why do you feel you can't win playing TAG style? Many people do.

2. By slowball, I presume you mean slowplaying strong hands,ie sets, straights, and such. It can be a profitable strategy wwhen used in moderarion, but can also be fraught w/ danger. The most common example is checking a set post flop and letting your opponents make a play at the pot, thereby increasing the pot size. The main drawback is letting free cards peel off to villains who may be on a straight or flush draw.

3.Stealing the blinds is a bluff/ semi bluff play usually attempted from late position, and simply consists of raising the pot w/ what may not be a strong hand, hoping to get the small and big blind to lay down what are likely to be weak hands. This is a strategy for later in tournaments, when blinds and antes make it worth the risk of taking down a hand without a showdown. There are numerous "steal" plays/strategies, and a single post couldn't begin to cover them.....this is just a primer "the 101 of stealing pots".

Hope some of this helps.

 

[pezjb]

I have learnt Poker from scratch, been playing at partypoker every day and night for about a month, mostly freerolls and sng`s
I have read all the common advice and followed the advice of many by playing very tight and aggressive.
I have had a modicum of success, 32nd and 36th in big freerolls and a dozen wins & lot of placings in sng;s, but I`m still making a small loss. My questions are;

What do I do now? Ill never make money or win tournies just being mainly tight\agg, I do vary when required of course,
but I am stumped at what strategy I could go for now to improve my game, someone told me to try "slow-ball" whatever that is, anyone here explain please?

Also, I have learnt to turn off the chat option as sometimes I get a lot of stick, mainly when beating someone in what I usually feel is a good play, e.g had the Nuts so moved all in and they called etc. had some girl calling me all sorts just now when I beat her in a sng, i asked what the prob was and she said "your play is so shit, its annoying" so i said ill let u win if its that important to u, and promptly knocked her out
Thing is, in real life I`d have to get used to the odd insult so maybe I should leave chat on and ignore them?
But hey! I`m a sensitive guy ;-)


Also can anyone explain exactly (in beginners language please) what is meant by "stealing someones blind"
I have an idea but could someone tell me?

last question, I am diagnosed ADD (Attention Defecit Disorder) where the main problem is staying focused and concentrating doh! So im playing with a handicap, when I take the medication I usually go on tilt ;-) It`s not always a handicap though because sometimes I go into hyperfocus mode, where you get 1000% concentration to a standard that is scary, I usually win when that happens though, just wish I had some control over when it came on, this is why I won`t do too well playing tight in long tournies, if it gets boring waiting for good hands, ill get restless and go on tilt or mind will wander off to the land of magic pies etc.. Any other ADHD people on here? How do you handle it?

I have loads more questions but I`ll bore u later with them

1. Well, you can win being a TAG player.. it is your best bet. My advice is you have to adjust to your table. I usually always start off TAG, but if after a while I am sitting with all TAG players or just straight up tight, I become much more loose. Raising in position very often with some kind of hand, (No J3, K2, etc) you will find you can pick up a lot of blinds. Some people say they are TAG, but really are only tight... not very aggressive. You got to get in there, be very aggressive it is the winning style of poker.

2. I don't know if it is slow-ball you are referring to, I think you might mean small-ball. This is something that Daniel Negranau does quite often. It is keeping the pot small so you do not overly commit yourself.. you can suffer more losses. Instead of raising 4-5x the BB, just raise it up 2 1/2-3x the BB. Let your continuation bets be about half to a little more of the pot. I have found myself doing this much more, especially early on in a tournament and even in my cash games. If there are no limpers and I am in position I will never call, I will raise it 3x the BB with pairs, overcards, connectors, etc.

3. First off, you can wear headphones live to block out players, but I wouldn't suggest that because you will gain information from players. Don't get wound up about what people say, the only time I feel shitty is when I am dominated and suck out, which is not very often. Let them talk all they want and go on tilt.

4. Raising to make everyone fold preflop. Usually done in position, and usually are have or are representing a big hand.

Can't help with the ADD question sorry, by the way fire anymore you got. Or just PM me.

 

[rindhoops]

Hi Pezjb
Thanks for the detailed reply I appreciate your time and have taken on your comments.
BTW I just did it again in a MTT (30 people) I had only 3k chips going into final table and won,
I was really happy with my heads up, the poor guy started of with 10k more the me and I finished
him in 6 hands I think, I just went ott aggr on him.

Using my little system I have now won 5 MTT out of 9 and also won a couple sngs and ITM places a few times, all this improvement I have to give credit to Holdem Indictor, I was lost before I got that running.
I have put a few screenies in the rindhoops gallery on this forum just in case people think I may be fibbing or exaggerating)

Yes, I mean small-ball, you got it, not sure it would suit my style of play but was just checking it out.

Talk: yes I`m getting more used to it, esp now I`m not a fish or a donkey I`m getting a bit more respect esp after kicking some butt on the table....

Thanks for the PM offer I may take you up on that.

good luck
Rindhoops

1. Well, you can win being a TAG player.. it is your best bet. My advice is you have to adjust to your table. I usually always start off TAG, but if after a while I am sitting with all TAG players or just straight up tight, I become much more loose. Raising in position very often with some kind of hand, (No J3, K2, etc) you will find you can pick up a lot of blinds. Some people say they are TAG, but really are only tight... not very aggressive. You got to get in there, be very aggressive it is the winning style of poker.

2. I don't know if it is slow-ball you are referring to, I think you might mean small-ball. This is something that Daniel Negranau does quite often. It is keeping the pot small so you do not overly commit yourself.. you can suffer more losses. Instead of raising 4-5x the BB, just raise it up 2 1/2-3x the BB. Let your continuation bets be about half to a little more of the pot. I have found myself doing this much more, especially early on in a tournament and even in my cash games. If there are no limpers and I am in position I will never call, I will raise it 3x the BB with pairs, overcards, connectors, etc.

3. First off, you can wear headphones live to block out players, but I wouldn't suggest that because you will gain information from players. Don't get wound up about what people say, the only time I feel shitty is when I am dominated and suck out, which is not very often. Let them talk all they want and go on tilt.

4. Raising to make everyone fold preflop. Usually done in position, and usually are have or are representing a big hand.

Can't help with the ADD question sorry, by the way fire anymore you got. Or just PM me.